Button



(No'ModeL) v Q J. WILLIAMS 8: R. LADE.

BUTTON. No. 439,920. Patented Nov. 4, 1890.

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JOHN WILLIAMS AND ROBERT LADE, OF HOLYOKE, MASSACHUSETTS.

BUTTON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 439,920, dated November 4, 1890.

Application filed March 6, 1890.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN WILLIAMS and ROBERT LADE, both of Holyoke, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusettshave invented. a new and useful Improvement in Buttons, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part thereof.

Our invention relates to that class of buttons, composed of a front portion or button proper and a rear portion or shank, which are adapted to be secured to a garment without the use of thread.

The object of the invention is to provide a button of this nature which is composed of few parts, which can be quickly and easily secured to a garment, and which is capable of resisting any strain which may be exerted upon it without being separated from the gar ment.

To these ends our invention consists in the button constructed and operating as hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claim.

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters designate like parts in the several figures, Figure 1 shows the preferred form of the button devised by us, the two parts thereof being separated. Fig. 2 shows the same after the two parts have been partially locked together. Fig. 3 is a View in perspective of a shank provided with a rectangular stud.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the front portion of the button is shown as being composed of a collet a and a cap or cover I), which may be stamped from sheet-brass or other metal in a wellknown manner, and the rear portion or shank as being composed of a base 0 and a tapered split tube d, standing perpendicularly to said base. The collet a is provided with a central orifice to receive said tube d, and has the central portion thereof surrounding said orifice depressed to form a tapering tubular socket a, the taper of which is the reverse of that of tube 01 on the shank.

The letter e designates a tapering wedge or plug, which is loosely held within the front portion of the button, with its smaller end preferably projecting slightly below the end of the tubular socket a, as shown, its large end being of such diameter as to prevent it Serial No. 342,920. (No model.)

from escaping 1 through said socket. The smaller end of said wedge or plug is of slightly less diameter than the smaller end of tube d on the shank, whereby it is adapted to easily enter the latter when the two parts of the button are caused to approach each other. The

length of said wedge or plug corresponds substantially with that of the stud d on the shank, whereby when said parts are pressed together, as will be presently described, said wedge extends throughout the entire length of said stud with its small end substantially flush with the rear side of base 0, said base having a central perforation, forming a continuation of the bore of the stud, to receive said end.

In securing the button thus constructed to a garmentthe tube (1 of the shank is thrust through the fabric from the rear side of the latter, with the aid of a needle similar to those heretofore used with this class of buttons, except that it is solid instead of tubular its rear end being adapted to enter the tube d. The front part of the button is then manipulated to cause the end of the wedge or plug 6 to enter the tube (1 and the end of said tube to enter the tubular socket a ',when by pressing the two parts of the button together with the thumb and finger the tube d and Wedge 6 will be moved inwardly until the larger end of said wedge is brought into contact with cap 17, thereby stopping its movement, while continued pressure upon the parts will force tube (1 upon said wedge in such manner as to expand the former, as shown in Fig. 2, and cause it to closely fit within tubular socket a of the collet, the pressure, in practice, being continued until the small end of the Wedge has been brought substantially flush with the rear side of base 0 of the shank. Wedge e being free to follow the movement of tube cl, it is obvious that any attempt to separate the two parts of the button thus locked together will but bind the expanded portion of said tube d the more firmly between wedge e and the taperingwall of socket a of the collet, and that a strain sufficient to rupture the metal itself must be exerted before the front portion of the button can be withdrawn from the shank. Before such a strain could be exerted upon the button the latter would of course be torn from the garment, and the button is therefore adapted to wear as long as the garment to which it is secured without being parted therefrom. Furthermore, by making the wedge of suflicient length to extend through tube 01 to the rear side of base 0, as described, the small end of the wedge is securely clamped in the plane of the base in such manner as to effectually prevent the former from being forced out of the tube by a strain exerted upon the button, as would be the case with a shorter wedge.

We thus secure an important advantage over most of the buttons of this class as heretofore constructed, which have been found to be incapable of successfully resisting the strain to which they are usually subjected upon a garment, and are frequently lost from the latter. The 'tube cl is made tapering to facilitate its introduction within the collet simply, and is split to facilitate its expansion and thereby lessen the pressure required to lock the two parts of the button together; but the principle of operation would be the same if said tube were truly cylindrical and not split, as the wedge e would still expand the end thereof under sufiicient' pressure.

We prefer to use the construction shown, as it enables the button to be applied to a garment without the use of tools other than the needle for inserting tube 01 through the fabric, one of which can readily be carried in the pocket with the buttons.

The particular shape in cross-section of either the tube on the shank or the wedge or plug in the front portion of the button is not material to the successful operation. thereof, as described. For example, we have shown in Fig. 3 a shank composed of a base a and a hollow stud d projecting therefrom, said stud being rectangular in cross-section and having slits in two of the opposite sides thereof to facilitate expansion thereof. For use with such a shank the wedge or plug on the front portion of the button would preferably be of a corresponding shape in cross-section.

When the collet is formed from metal posses'sing considerable stiffness and rigidity, it can be provided with a central orifice simply to receive the tube (1, and the tapering socket a, thereon can beomitted without impairing the locking action of the wedge.

We are aware that buttons have been devised in which a loose wedge or plug in the front portion to enter a split tube on the shank is employed; but in all of such buttons, so far as we are aware, the wedge or plug is only about one-fourth as long as the tube on the shank, and consequently any strain upon the button after the two parts are locked topressible paint-tube.

pull apart in use.

gether tends to compress the tube below the end of the wedge and to force the latter out of the tube in much the same manner as the paint is discharged from the ordinary com- Such buttons, therefore, possess no greater resisting strength than the frictional resistance between the wedge and the inner surface of the tube and soon In our button, on the contrary, the wedge extends throughout the entire length of the tube when the two are locked together, and the small end of the wedge is tightly compressed in the central orifice in the base of the shank. Any strain upon the button merely compresses the tube more tightly upon the wedge, and the latter is positively prevented from slipping out of the tube. We are thus enabled to' provide a button which is capable of successfully withstanding any strain which can be exerted upon it when attached to a garment. Furthermore, the button devised by us is a separable button-that is to say, it can be readily removed from a garment, if desired. Such removal is effected by applying a small punch to the small end of the wedge through the central orifice in the base of the shank and driving the wedge out of the tube on the shank, thereby permitting the two parts of the button to be readily separated from each other, to be again applied to another garment, if desired. In this respect, also, our button differs from previous buttons employing wedges, none of which are separable.

Having thus fullydescribed our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The button herein described, composed of a shank the base of which has projecting therefrom a hollow split stud and has therein a central orifice forminga continuation of the bore of said stud, a front portion composed of a cap and a collet, said collet being provided with a central orifice to receive the stud von the shank, and a wedge or plug loosely mounted within said front portion with its small end projecting through the orifice in the collet, said Wedge or plug being adapted to enter and expand the stud on the shank, and being of such length that when the two parts of the button are pressed together its small end will project into the orifice in the base of the shank, substantially as and for the purpose described.

JOHN WILLIAMS. ROBERT LADE. WVitnesses:

W. H. CHAPMAN, CHAS; A. GILDAY. 

